


there were things you didn't need to say

by TheEagleGoesDemocrascree



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hair Braiding, I think it is, It's all fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, SO MUCH FLUFF, is that too much to ask for, is this pining, lance just wants to braid keith's hair okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 13:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10641096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEagleGoesDemocrascree/pseuds/TheEagleGoesDemocrascree
Summary: Lance is captivated by Keith and wants to ask the other to let him play with his hair but he can never form the right words.





	

**Author's Note:**

> \- beta’d by [disturbedseanemone](http://archiveofourown.org/users/disturbedseanemone) -  
>   
> Try not to be too surprised, but I managed to write something that wasn't hella angsty (for once)  
>   
> Once again, no idea when this is supposed to take place, but canon verse and Zarkon's robeats are a thing.  
>   
> And okay, I know it's just a thing that everyone assumes Lance isn't into books, but I like to headcanon that he's actually a huge sci-fi lit nerd and is obsessed with Heinlein books. Like just give me Lance freaking out over Have Spacesuit Will Travel any day, kay?

**“all the things i didn’t mean to say”**

_frank ocean_

_[ivy]_

 

Lance could never quite understand why it was that all the prettiest people had the shittiest personalities.

Take Keith for example.

Attractive as hell in a way that made Lance want to commit every known sin just to see him smile. Eyes that seemed to light up at the spark of a challenge and simmer softly after a battle when everyone was tired and enjoying the collective calm. A quirky grin that only showed up when someone (Lance, most of the time) made a complete fool of theirself and a snarky smile that only made an appearance at the inkling of a competition.

Attractive asshole.

And then there was the asshole’s hair, an entirely different kind of irritation for Lance.

As much as he loved to gripe about mullet trends and Keith’s lack of any kind of fashion sense, Lance really did love his stupid mullet. Though he’d rather die than admit that.

Keith’s hair wasn’t like what Lance considered to be typical mullet fashion, and actually looked pretty good (Keith in general looked good, which irked Lance because he was nearly 100% certain that Keith put no extra effort into his outward appearance). And, as much as he hated to admit it, the mullet suited the red paladin.

“Lance, on your five!”

He spun and delivered a quick shot to one of the drones, a quick thanks flung in Shiro’s direction. Now was definitely not the right time to be ogling Keith and his stupid hair (It was never the right time to be ogling Keith).

Speaking of attractive, red, and angry, Keith was pressed up against Shiro and Pidge, the three sidestepping and maneuvering around each other in a tight formation, bayards drawn and flashing. Lance and Hunk had ended up isolated from the other paladins, backed into a corner of the room and raining shots down on all of the training drones in their proximity. This had been going on for a good hour, possibly more, and they were all beginning to look a little worse for wear.

“Okay, paladins! Break time! Number one and number two, you’re needed in the dining hall!”

A look of confusion was shared among the paladins before Pidge sighed from their spot on the ground, speaking up in a deadpan voice, “Shiro. Hunk. He’s calling for you two.”

The two left and Lance found his attention once again shifting to the red paladin, who remained standing and was trying to regulate his breathing, short pants blowing at some of the strands of dark hair that had swung in front of his eyes. Keith pushed back his bangs and Lance was suddenly reminded of the hair ties on his wrist, a habit picked up from living with three sisters and more than enough youtube hair tutorial videos.

After a few more minutes of Keith attempting to push back the hair corrupting his vision and curling at his neck (failingly so), Lance stood up with a heavy sigh, heart pounding and face slightly flushed (definitely from the previous training session) and made his way over to the other paladin.

Keith looked at him quizzically as he approached, stiffening when Lance grabbed his shoulder and breathed a brief “Stay still.”

He pulled Keith’s bangs to the side, starting a quick braid and gathering the rest of his hair into a ponytail at the back of his head, fingers tugging at the shorter strands at the nape of the paladin’s neck. He narrowed his eyes and reached for some semblance of control over his breathing, catching one of the hair ties at his wrist and twisting it around Keith’s hair, just beginning to register how ridiculously fucking soft the red paladin’s hair was. Seriously, what the fuck? Asshole doesn’t use any product and puts zero effort into anything that isn’t battle training and still ends up like a fucking model? Un-fucking-believable. Him and his hair were unfairly pretty.

“What?” Keith spoke up, turning to glance over his shoulder, and Lance realized that he’d said his last observation out loud.

Lance stepped away, barely glancing at his handiwork as he stormed over to where Pidge was sitting, his face on fire.

“I said you and your hair are shitty!”

Keith didn’t say anything, instead reaching up to touch his hair with something that looked like wonder on his face and Lance flushed a deeper red. It was ridiculous, really, because Keith only ever wore expressions of irritation, snark, and thinly veiled boredom. Lance must’ve been insane if he thought the red paladin was wearing something that looked like appreciation, much less actual happiness.

Lance’s eyes met Pidge’s, who raised an eyebrow in question, and he looked away with a muttered “Shut up.” The green paladin simply smirked, their shit-eating grin only widening when they saw Keith tentatively touching his braided hair with a flushed face and a soft smile.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance wasn’t typically one to try and get some extra hand-to-hand practice in on the training deck. It wasn’t because he was lazy or anything, he just thought, that as a long-range fighter, it would be more beneficial to the team to focus his efforts elsewhere. However, in the team’s last battle with a robeast, he’d ended up separated from the group, his lion, and his bayard, and was reduced to close combat with a Galra commander. He didn’t like to think that he would’ve eventually lost, but he knew that the only reason he wasn’t still in a cryopod was because of Hunk’s quick thinking and Keith abandoning his own lion to make it a two-on-one fight.

He didn’t want to be in that situation ever again, losing ground and harming the team effort, and decided that he might as well try to do something about his, frankly, shitty combat skills.

He almost walked out when he saw Keith was already in the room and battling a gladiator.

Lance closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, mentally preparing himself for whatever clashing conversation was sure to arrive, and stepped into the room, making his way over to the side wall and sitting down, observing the other paladin and trying to convince himself it was purely for educational purposes.

He wasn’t sure if the red paladin had even noticed his arrival due to his intent focus on the enemy in front of him. Keith ducked into a roll and sprung up behind the gladiator, extending his bayard in the same breath and delivering a short downward strike to the bot. The system paused and Keith breathed in harshly, his eyes closed and head tilted back, and Lance couldn’t help but admire his teammate.

Keith rolled his shoulders and tilted his head to the side, his eyes flashing open to narrow on Lance, his speech only a little gasped, “What’re you doing here?”

Lance took that as his cue to stand up, “Thought I’d try and get some extra training in. And, not to sound interested or anything, but what level was that gladiator on?”

“Eight, do you need a partner?”

Lance blinked, “What?”

Keith walked over to where he’d dropped his jacket and one of those weird Altean water boxes, setting down his bayard and snatching up the water box and taking a sip as he turned back around to speak to Lance.

“Do. You. Need. A. Partner?”

Lance caught himself staring again, a little dumbstruck and a whole lot distracted by Keith and Keith’s unruly hair and Keith’s heated face and just… Keith in general, really.

_Fuuucck._

“Uh… Sure.”

Keith nodded and set down his water, making his way over to the center of the room, gesturing to Lance to follow. Keith took up a loose but anticipating stance and Lance raised his fists, not entirely sure what to do and feeling a little lost.

Keith’s posture relaxed as he looked Lance over, voice slightly amused when he spoke.

“You’ve never sparred before, have you?”

Lance huffed, “Yeah I have! It’s just… been… a while…”

Keith sighed, pushing his hair out of his eyes as he walked over to Lance and _okay, wait, no, that’s personal bubble space and he should not be this close and smell this good after who knows how much time working up a disgusting sweat, how the hell..._ He was suddenly reminded of how much he’d enjoyed tying up Keith’s hair. _Fuck._

Keith pulled Lance’s fists back up (he hadn’t even noticed he’d dropped them), and pushed his elbows in a bit more and instructed him to widen his stance and shift his weight to the balls of his feet. He did as Keith said and listened as the red paladin gave an explanation on center of balance, reach, posture, and something else but Lance was a little bit distracted.

Every few seconds Keith would push his bangs out of his face or tug back the curls at his neck and that was really, really, really distracting.

“That’s a bad habit” Lance blurted out suddenly, cutting off Keith and startling them both.

Keith looked a little confused and a little lost, “What?”

“Uhh…” Lance grappled for words and chose to mimic Keith’s previous battle with his hair, “You’re gonna thin out your hair or something if you keep that up.”

Keith gave him a curious look, “I thought you hated my hair?”

He sputtered, “I do! It’s just… I prefer you with a mullet than without anything, okay. But you’re seriously gonna wreck your hair if you keep that up.”

“Well there’s not really anything I can do about it, we’re in space and I don’t think a haircut would be my best option right now.”

Lance was tempted to agree with him, “Just, I don’t know, tie it back?”

Keith looked away and Lance could’ve sworn his face was a little more red than it was a few seconds ago, and significantly more embarrassed, “I tried that, it didn’t work…”

“Just, like,” Lance gestured vaguely with his hands, “put it up in a ponytail.”

“Didn’t work well and kept losing the bangs.”

Lance sighed, exasperated, “I’ll just do it. Turn around.”

Keith’s eyes widened before he spun around, effectively hiding his purple irises from Lance’s sight, and Lance tried to tell himself that he didn’t miss them. He plaited the right side of Keith's bangs into a lace braid and instructed Keith to hold the end as he did the same on the opposite side. Last time he’d only done the left side and realized halfway through the rest of their practice session that that was a mistake as the right portion of his bangs was left to fall freely and once again intrude into Keith’s vision. This time he wasn’t as jumpy about the entire situation so he took his time and tried not to let his eyes and fingers linger too long on the soft strands and light pink hue of skin. _Nopenopenopenopenope…_

Once he’d finished and let go of the hair tie with a resolute snap, Keith turned back around slowly, eyes downcast and lightly fingering the twists in his hair and _goddammit why is he so cute??_

Keith looked up, almost shyly ( _kill me now_ ), “Thanks.”

Lance waved his hand nonchalantly and tried to calm his staggering heart, “Nah it’s fine, haven’t done that in forever. Not since Earth.” Keith gave him a curious look so he elaborated:

“I’ve got three sisters and none of them were ever good with the entire hair thing and I could never stay still so somehow we got in a bit of a braiding system” he laughed, “It’s kinda weird when I think about it now, but one of them would walk into my room and ask if I could do her hair and we’d just sit there and talk about our days and whatever shows or movies we’d seen recently and it was kinda like a sibling bonding time.”

“It’s not weird.”

Lance looked at Keith with a questioning glance. He shrugged and responded with his eyes cast to the side, “You said it was weird. It’s not. It’s… sweet.”

 _This boy…_ Lance was thinking that he might have to retract his earlier observation of Keith having a shitty personality.

Lance smiled at Keith, “Thanks, seriously. I think I kinda needed that blast of nostalgia.”

Keith just looked at him, cheeks tinted a light pink color and Lance tried not to think about what he’d be willing to do or say if he were feeling brave. Luckily, his thoughts were interrupted as Keith’s expression shifted into a frown and he stepped back, speaking firmly without any trace of his previous shyness, and their moment was gone.

“Anyways, back to your awful fighting stance. Space your feet so they’re a little wider than your hips and shift your weight off your heels. You’re not trying to plant yourself here, this isn’t a garden or something.”

And asshole Keith was back and Lance’s previous observation was correct.

Once Keith was satisfied with Lance’s stance (five fucking minutes later), he stepped back and took up his own stance, and just when Lance was thinking that he might have to make the first move, Keith delivered a sharp roundhouse to his thigh and he winced, hissing through his teeth.

They continued like this until the rest of the team showed up for group bonding exercises, and Lance never told Keith that, despite his painful kicks and fast moves and punches, it was hard to see the red paladin as anything but adorable when his hair was up like that.

He also refused to make eye contact with Pidge; he could practically feel them giving him knowing grins the entire session.

 

* * *

 

 

There was a tentative knock at the door, and, glancing up, Lance called out a quick “Come on in”.

The door slid open and a slightly uncomfortable looking Keith stood in the door frame and Lance was suddenly reminded that he was stretched carelessly across his bed, reading an old Heinlein book, and mindlessly toying with one of his lion slippers.

The slipper fell to the ground with a soft thud and Keith cleared his throat, looking a little lost, “Could I come in?”

Lance nodded and sat up, gesturing for the other paladin to sit next to him, any sarcastic remark dying at his lips.

Keith looked nervous and kept fiddling with a loose thread on one of his gloves, “I was wondering… if you could… domyhair?”

“What?”

Keith exhaled, eyes trained on the fallen lion slipper, “Could you braid my hair”

Lance’s eyes lit up in understanding, nodding, he pulled his legs up onto the bed to scooch behind the other paladin, “Yeah, sure! You going down to the training deck in a bit?”

Ever since that first sparring match the two of them would meet up before group practices and their own, what had become daily, one-on-one combat sessions and would sit in collected and seldom interrupted silence as Lance would deftly twist and braid Keith’s hair out his way, and sometimes, if they had time, would do so before battles. It’d become something of a calming ritual for the both of them, and, while they definitely still bickered, Lance liked to think that their little tradition had brought them closer together. Though this was the first time that Keith had approached him. And come to his room no less.

Lance was getting situated behind the red paladin when Keith shifted to look over his shoulder and into Lance’s eyes, “No, didn’t feel like training today.”

Lance’s stomach flipped and his eyebrows furrowed, “Then why…?”

Keith shrugged and turned to look forward again, purple eyes gone and voice so low that Lance almost missed what he said.

“It feels nice. I enjoy it.”

Lance’s breathing stilted and his eyes widened. His heart was hammering in his throat as he let out a weak “Oh… okay.”

He started to reach for a strand of Keith’s hair but stopped when realization swept over him and he felt a grin tugging at his lips. Smiling broadly he leaned forward a bit and Keith turned to look back, an eyebrow raised in question.

“So,” Lance began, voice lilting softly, “Because it’s a special occasion, and you’re not heading out to go and kill a thing after this, can I try something a little less… practical?”

Keith flushed red all the way up to the tips of his ears and spun away to face forwards once again, his voice coming out gruff and a little unsteady, “Sure.”

Lance cheered softly and tried not to think about the things that the expressions of the very red paladin were doing to his heart.

He shifted to get a better angle and gently turned Keith’s head before getting started on parting the right portion of hair.

“So,” he started, conversationally, “Shiro and Allura.”

Keith snorted and glanced upwards in what was probably an expression of exasperation (Lance had to nudge him back into looking down), “Those two have been dancing around each other from day one and they don’t even know it.”

Lance nodded enthusiastically, “They’re practically in love with each other, and also all those secret meetings without telling anyone else, do you think they’re, I don’t know, together?”

Keith started to shake his head but stopped when Lance poked the back of his skull in reminder, “No, they’re definitely not together, they might like each other a lot but they’re both too oblivious to pick up on the feelings of the other person” he laughed, “and I know they’re not together ‘cause all Shiro ever talks to me about anymore is team dynamics and Allura’s stunning existence. He doesn’t ever shut up.”

Lance started lace dutch braiding the first section and hummed in excitement, “So you’re telling me that Shiro— stoic, collected, and poised— is in the thralls of puppy love?”

“Yup.”

He shook his head, “Unbelievable. And he doesn’t even know it himself?!”

“Nope.”

He looked up briefly and sighed, “How did we get stuck on a team with such oblivious idiots?”

Keith shrugged, “Don’t ask me, I don’t have any answers for that one.”

Lance clipped aside a section of hair, a memory resurfacing, “That reminds me of when my oldest sister was allowed to start dating and she rejected anyone that asked her out because that would hurt her best friend somehow? I don’t know. But later she figured out she was actually in love with that best friend.”

“No shit?”

Lance shrugged, “Not kidding” and proceeded to launch into the epic tale of teenage heartbreak from a middle schooler's perspective. During the course of his story he found his mind once again wandering to stray thoughts of Keith, only allowing those thoughts to dominate his mind once he’d finished with the story and the danger of thinking out loud had passed.

Keith had always been intriguing to him. Even though he’d passed the boy off in the beginning as being an ass, there was still something undeniably magnetic about him that always drew Lance’s attention. Maybe that was why he’d dubbed their relationship a rivalry. Because he couldn’t fathom any other fascination with Keith that wasn’t the result of pure unadulterated loathing.

He’d learned, and was still learning, that there was a lot more to Keith Kogane than instinctual skill and a sharp mind and tongue. He hated to agree with the other paladin, especially in situations where lives were on the line, but sometimes his thorough logic and thought-out plans made too much sense to be ignored, even if his reasoning came off as being outright cold.

And then there were days when Keith didn’t seem to be burdened by all the titles— Red Paladin, Defender of the Universe, the Universe’s Only Hope— those were Lance’s favorite days. Those were the days when Keith let his guard drop and allowed his mind to relax, and Lance could see the change.

Lance could see the amusement glittering in his eyes and the way he’d let himself laugh freely with the rest of the team. He could see it in the knowing smirk when he and Keith bickered aimlessly for the sake of their own entertainment. He could see it in the loud moments when Keith thought nobody was looking. When he fell silent and let his features soften to take in everything good that was happening around him.

Those were Lance’s favorite days. That was today.

He finished the last braid and swept his own hair back with a satisfied “Done!”

Keith didn’t move and Lance frowned, concerned, “Keith? Buddy? Pal?”

He poked at Keith’s back and yelped when the boy fell back onto him. He groaned slightly and pushed himself up onto his elbows, snickering in amusement when he realized what had happened.

Somehow, someway, Keith had managed to fall asleep sitting ramrod straight and had fallen backwards onto Lance, snoring softly with his eyes feathered shut.

Lance chuckled, quietly, observing the sleeping boy on top of him with a fond smile. He ran his fingers through Keith’s hair, a vague passing thought hoping that the braided faux undercut he’d given Keith would last through his nap so he could at least see it.

He continued like that, twirling the ends of Keith’s hair and allowing pointless thoughts to drift through his mind aimlessly.

Today was a good day. Today was one of those days.

 

* * *

 

 

It was weeks later when the other three paladins walked onto the training deck and found Lance sitting up against the wall with Keith between his legs, the two wearing matching looks of contentedness as Lance ran his fingers through Keith’s hair and the pair laughed softly at some joke between them.

The two hadn’t said anything about their relationship to the others, but it wasn’t exactly difficult to pick up on the change in dynamics between the two of them over the course of the last few months. Especially when they were constantly holding hands and shooting fond glances at each other during team meetings.

Keith traced swirling patterns along the palm of Lance’s hand as he told the blue paladin about some crazy desert animal story from back home, and Lance snickered at the mental montage of Keith scrambling to catch a herd of hurriedly fleeing mason jars and their feline inhabitants.

His free hand toyed with the strands of Keith’s hair, pulled up into a ponytail with the bottom part a loose fishtail keeping the mullet from covering Keith’s neck. He grabbed Keith’s other hand and dropped his head onto the other paladin’s shoulder, laughing at the quick intake of breath as Keith shifted to give Lance a bemused look.

Lance smirked and leaned forward to peck a quick kiss on his boyfriend’s lips, grin widening at the deepening flush on the red paladin’s face.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hunk passing Pidge a wad of cash, and, laughter bubbling in his throat, he pressed another quick kiss to Keith’s cheek, the two of them then contending to silence.

 

**“there were things you didn’t need to say”**

_frank ocean_

_[ivy]_

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, it's like midnight, and I'm dead inside, but at least this is donE.  
>   
> In other news, I've got like ten more oneshots lined up and two chaptered fics bc i'm incapable of sticking to one idea at a time.  
>   
> I'm going to die.  
>   
> \- find/fight me on tumblr: [leadmealone](https://leadmealone.tumblr.com/) -


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